The Melt Mothership Detour
The extra terrestrial fuzz rock trio makes one last stop in Pittsburgh before the new year to release their brand new vinyl record
The Pittsburgh psych-rock trio Melt is touching down in Allentown to celebrate the vinyl release of their most recent album “Replica of Man,” a nine-song, 45-minute stoner journey through cosmic space and time, released in July of this year.
The three cosmonauts, drummer JJ Young, guitarist Joey Troupe, and bass player James May, have sent waves around the city following the album’s release and look to bring more of the celestial chaos into Bottlerocket Social Hall on December 1st, 2023.
In an interview with The Satellite, JJ said that the wood paneling was a clear destination for the release party.
“Bottlerocket is like a second or third home for us in Pittsburgh. It’s so familiar, friendly, and accommodating,” JJ said. “If we asked the owner, Chris, “Hey, can we shoot a bunch of weed confetti in the crowd?” “He'll be like, yeah, that's hilarious.” With the vibes, the drinks, and the hot dogs and all that kind of stuff, it's definitely the total package.”
Don’t get it twisted; the Melt boys are tremendous musicians, but when you come to the show, you’re getting something worth much more than the price of admission.
“We want the people that come and see us to have a pleasurable experience besides just seeing us play. You can expect a full Melt production at Bottlerocket on December 1st,” JJ said. “At our album release show back in July, we hired a few people off of like Craigslist or something to put on alien costumes and like dance on stage and run around in the crowd, and we're definitely going to be doing that again.”
JJ said that when Replica of Man was released, he had only been in the group for a year, but the chemistry with them felt almost instant and has been a significant point of success in the album’s first year.
“I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of reception, but it has been awesome. People are really digging it, and we’ve been floored by the number of listens and people sharing it,” JJ said. “Chemistry was definitely something I was thinking about because a rhythm section is so fucking important to a band, especially a power trio or a three-piece or whatever you want to call it, but it clicked immediately; we've really become a really tight unit.”
The group will have plenty of vinyl on hand for purchase, which is good because that is why the show is happening in the first place.
“We can't wait for people to get their hands on these. There's a lot of detail and a lot of different artifacts and elements to this physical product that people are really going to be stoked about,” JJ said.
This also might be one of the last times you can see the fearsome trio in Pittsburgh coming up as Melt looks to branch out in the new year, so experience this while you still can.
“With 2024 being on the horizon, touring is definitely going to be our goal for next year, minimizing our Pittsburgh and maximizing our everywhere else,” JJ added.
Local Pittsburgh powerhouses Outsideinside and Animal Scream will act as support on the vinyl release show, and you can get your tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime out-of-this-world experience HERE.